The present invention relates to a mineral mining installation, and in particular, to apparatus for controlling the inclination of a mineral face conveyor having a guide for a mining or winning machine.
One form of control apparatus, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,915,500, uses hydraulic rams connected between the guide and elongate guide rods. The guide rods are pivotable in relation to the guide and are guided on roof support units. In this known construction, the guide is attached to the face side of a scraper-chain conveyor, and the roof support units are coupled to brackets on the conveyor goaf side. The rams, which are used to tilt the conveyor and its guide into various inclinations, are connected to the guide rods at positions spaced outwardly from the conveyor relative to the positions at which the guide rods are connected to the brackets. The guide rods are usually guided, at their ends remote from the conveyor, for movement in the direction of conveyor advance; and advance rams act on the conveyor, via the guide rods, to advance the latter to follow the winning progress. The guide rods are restrained from vertical movement at their rear ends, although pivotal or angular mobility is permitted. The guide rods also serve to align and guide the roof support units when these are drawn up to follow the advance of the conveyor. There is a direct relationship between the stroke of the rams and the inclination of the conveyor and its guide; and this is not influenced to any great extent by uneveness in the level of the floor of the mine working, since the contact zones between the floor and the various parts of the mine installation are well spaced apart. This known form of control apparatus has generally performed well, but its main disadvantage is that the space between the conveyor and the roof support units tends to become restricted and access is difficult.
The object of the present invention is to provide an improved form of control apparatus. In particular, it is an object of the invention to provide control apparatus which permits adequate control movements using rams having relatively short working strokes. Another object is to provide control apparatus which occupies only a small part of the access region between the conveyor and the associated roof support units.